How to sell work over the Internet is a not easy. I’ve tried various options over the last couple of years, with very little success it must be said.

1. I used my site as an on-line image gallery, which looked good, but because it was hand-crafted in Dreamweaver was quite labour intensive to keep up-to-date.

2. I then discovered blogging and on-line artist galleries and signed up with isendyouthis.com this is a really well run on-line art gallery, but not really ideal for selling different sized images/finishes of photography prints.

3. Gallery 2C in Bristol were interested in my work, so I went through a lengthy process of selecting a range of work and uploading it to their site. Nothing sold, so I’ve recently pruned the selection so the body of work relates to macro textures and graphics based images. The jury’s out, so I’ll see how it goes. I replaced the isendyouthis link with Gallery 2C on my site.

4. After discussions with isendyouthis I decided to change the work on the site so that it is distinct from Gallery 2C. It has much more an art feel to it, and includes work I have exhibited and reflects the direction my work is heading in. I reinsated the isendyouthis link on my site!

so…. low and behold I got an email at the beginning of the week from someone wanting to buy £1600 of work. Wow I thought, all my time on the web has finally paid off. After a couple of days of email conversations I received a cheque for £2,750 (more than I asked for). However, some things did not really add up, and the whole thing seemed rather fishy. I talked to other local artists and it appears that quite a few SBA members have been caught up in this, a Nigerian scam based in Manchester. The long shot being that the guy invoices you for the balance to cover the overpayment. Luckily nobody I know has been caught out.

So it’s back to the drawing board.

Hewlett Packard have recently launched a new version of their Mediascape software and an accompanying website where the software and Mediascapes can be downloaded. Along with other artists myself and Paul Matson were commissioned to create a Mediascape using photography as the starting point. The piece had to be non location specific which meant that its content had to be generic in nature and the overall concept one that everyone could relate to. Paul and I chose to work with an underwater theme. Our aim was to create a Mediascape experience that would be instinctively recognisable by many people, and would require little explanation on how to use it.

The piece is not meant to be a ‘realistic’ diving simulator, but through the use of sound and image provide the participant with a taster of what the actual experience might bring. Simple animated slideshows suggest movement, while the sound complements and suggests potential diving scenarios. Scubascape is not competitive and contains no gaming element; it’s about immersing yourself in the audio/visual experience, exploring the four different dives and having fun.

Although the initial version of Scubascape was designed, built and tested in central Bristol, a portable version is also available so the piece can be experienced anywhere. Scubascape can be downloaded from the mscapers website: Scubascape

Last year as part of the Southbank-Bristol Arts trail we (the SBA) facilitated the collaborative ’shoebox project’, whereby SBA members/artists, friends and family and local school children were asked to use an empty shoe box to appropriate/create a piece of art. The uptake was fantastic with an amazing range of work created.

As Chair of the SBA I wanted to continue this collaborative approach and facilitate more projects as part of this years Southbank-Bristol Arts Week (12-19 May 2007). In partnership with Tony Eastman I devised two projects with a similar ethos. Here is a summary of the project briefs:

Message on a Bottle invited Southbank artists and friends of all ages to make a work of art that sent a message from our own community to friends, family or the world at large: by taking a bottle (or bottles) as a starting point, everyone was asked to construct a positive message they wished to send by using any medium or combination of mediums (i.e. paint, enamel, collage, papier mache, sound – you name it!) The ‘bottle messages’ (signed or unsigned – it’s your choice) were installed in St Paul’s Church and unless otherwise indicated included in a silent auction to raise funds for the SBA.

Seaside, Cities and Sandwiches – a ‘ReCollection’ offered the chance to share holiday memories and see them incorporated into an audio photographic collage at the Grant Bradley Gallery: Choose an old photograph that records one of your most memorable holiday experiences and be prepared to record a short description of the experience.